BILL NUMBER: AB 299	CHAPTERED  08/23/00

	CHAPTER   223
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   AUGUST 23, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   AUGUST 22, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 10, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 3, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 13, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 6, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 12, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Thomson

                        FEBRUARY 8, 1999

   An act to add and repeal Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 2920)
of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to mosquito
abatement, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 299, Thomson.  Suisun Marsh Wetlands Enhancement and Mosquito
Abatement Demonstration Program.
   (1) Existing law authorizes mosquito and vector control districts
to levy a service charge in connection with the abatement of
mosquitos and vectors on property.
   This bill would establish the Suisun Marsh Wetlands Enhancement
and Mosquito Abatement Program, until December 31,  2005, for the
purpose of devising and evaluating methods by which wetland
management techniques in the Suisun Marsh can be better integrated
with mosquito abatement programs, and would require the Department of
Fish and Game to award a grant of funds to the Suisun Resource
Conservation District to administer the program, in accordance with
specified requirements.  The bill would require the Suisun Resource
Conservation District and the Solano County Mosquito Abatement
District to take specified actions relating to the implementation and
administration of the program.  By imposing new duties on local
governments with regard to the implementation and administration of
the program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   The bill would appropriate $140,000 from the General Fund to the
department for allocation to the Suisun Resource Conservation
District for purposes of the program, and would require that those
funds be expended in accordance with specified requirements.  The
bill would prohibit the department from allocating any funds from the
General Fund for purposes of the program after December 31, 2004.
  (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Suisun Marsh and its myriad endemic plant and wildlife
species are natural resources of state and national significance, as
declared in the Suisun Marsh Protection Act of 1977 (Division 19
(commencing with Section 29000) of the Public Resources Code), and
should be protected from adverse environmental impacts and enhanced
whenever possible.
   (b) The proximity of the Suisun Marsh to neighboring communities
has elicited public concern regarding the potential health and
nuisance issues associated with the production of mosquitos in the
early fall when most of the marsh is being flooded for migratory
waterfowl.
   (c) It is in the interest of the public to establish a
demonstration program designed to develop and evaluate marsh
management practices that will enhance the marsh for early migrating
waterfowl and shorebirds while, at the same time, minimizing the need
for the chemical control of mosquitos.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 2920) is added to
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 12.  SUISUN MARSH WETLANDS ENHANCEMENT AND MOSQUITO
ABATEMENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

   2920.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Suisun
Marsh Wetlands Enhancement and Mosquito Abatement Demonstration
Program.
   2921.  For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall
have the following meaning:
   (a) "Conservation district" means the Suisun Resource Conservation
District.
   (b) "Early flooding program" means the flooding of privately owned
wetlands on which waterfowl ponds are located and that are initially
flooded prior to October 1 of each year and that may remain flooded
after that date.
   (c) "Late flooding program" means the flooding of privately owned
wetlands on which waterfowl ponds are located and that are initially
flooded on or after October 1 of each year.
   (d) "Mosquito district" means the Solano County Mosquito Abatement
District.
   (e) "Program" means the Suisun Marsh Wetland Enhancement and
Mosquito Abatement Demonstration Program.
   2922.  The program is hereby established for the purpose of
devising and evaluating methods by which wetland management
techniques in the Suisun Marsh can be better integrated with mosquito
abatement programs.  The department shall award grant funds for the
program to the conservation district until December 31, 2004.  The
program shall be implemented and administered in accordance with the
following procedures:
   (a) Not later than July 31, 2001, July 31, 2002, July 31, 2003,
and July 31, 2004, the conservation district, the mosquito district,
and the department shall confer for the purpose of selecting those
lands on which the early flooding program may be conducted with the
voluntary consent of the landowners, shall immediately notify the
owners of those selected properties, and shall give the owners of
those selected properties the option to participate in the program.
Priority shall be given to those properties that have demonstrated,
or for which it can be reasonably assumed, are the least likely to
produce mosquitos at levels requiring extensive abatement efforts.
   (b) The mosquito district shall keep detailed records of each
mosquito outbreak requiring the application of control measures,
including the date of the outbreak and any posttreatment inspections,
the species of mosquitos involved, approximate acreage sustaining
the outbreak, the kind of control measure or measures employed, the
type of chemical controls applied, if any, the application rate, and
the total cost of the abatement procedure.
   (c) The mosquito district shall immediately notify the
conservation district of any mosquito outbreaks requiring control
measures, and provide the conservation district with the written
record of those outbreaks together with any recommendations the
mosquito district may have regarding wetland habitat management
practices that could be employed to avert or minimize future
outbreaks on the subject property in a timely fashion.
   (d) The conservation district shall conduct a weekly bird census
of all waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds for the properties
participating in the early flooding program, and shall maintain
complete records of the census for each property.  Prior to the
initiation of the census effort, the conservation district and the
department shall develop an appropriate census protocol.  The census
period shall extend from the time of initial flooding of any property
until October 1 of each year.
   (e) The conservation district shall submit to the department an
annual report by March 1 of each year that summarizes the
program-related events of the previous season's early flooding
program.  The report shall contain, at a minimum, for each property
participating in the program all of the following:
   (1) The name, identification number, date of initial flooding, and
acreage flooded prior to October 1 of the year covered in the annual
report.
   (2) A summary of the results of the bird census, and any pertinent
aerial waterfowl census data that may have been collected by the
department.
   (3) A detailed summary of all mosquito abatement events and the
costs thereof.
   The annual report prepared pursuant to this subdivision shall also
include recommendations regarding how current marsh management
practices or mosquito abatement operations can be improved to better
integrate the two interests with the intent of enhancing wetland
habitat, thereby reducing the cost of vector control measures and
limiting the need for the application of chemical control agents.
   (f) The conservation district shall submit a final report to the
department by March 1, 2005, which summarizes the results of the
entire demonstration program and shall include a summary of those
matters described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision
(e).  In addition, the final report shall emphasize and describe the
benefits of the early flooding program, marsh management practices
demonstrated to be effective at reducing the frequency or duration of
major mosquito outbreaks, improved or modified mosquito control
measures, and how any or all of the foregoing may be applied
elsewhere in the state.
   2923.  This chapter shall remain in effect only until December 31,
2005, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before December 31, 2005, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  (a) The sum of one hundred forty thousand dollars
($140,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the
Department of Fish and Game for allocation to the Suisun Resource
Conservation District for the purpose of implementing the Suisun
Marsh Wetlands Enhancement and Mosquito Abatement Demonstration
Program established pursuant to Chapter 12 (commencing with Section
2920) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.
   (b) The department shall allocate the sum of thirty-five thousand
dollars ($35,000) to the conservation district in each of the
2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04 fiscal years, as follows:
   (1) Up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) shall be expended by
the conservation district each year for the following purposes:
   (A) From July 1 until September 30 of each year, the conservation
district shall pay 75 percent of the cost incurred by the mosquito
district for any necessary mosquito abatement activities undertaken
by the mosquito district on lands previously authorized to
participate in the current year's early flooding program.  The
remaining 25 percent of those costs shall be borne by the owner or
owners of the affected property, and they shall pay that amount to
the conservation district within 30 days after receipt of an invoice
for those costs from the conservation district.  If the owner or
owners do not pay the full 25 percent copayment amount within that
30-day period, the owner or owners shall pay the mosquito district
the full 100 percent of the costs incurred by the mosquito district
for mosquito abatement activities on the affected property, and the
conservation district shall be relieved of the obligation to pay any
portion of the cost of those activities on that property.
   (B) After October 1 of each year, all private wetlands in the
Suisun Marsh are eligible to receive program funds, to the extent
available, to defray the costs of mosquito abatement incurred during
the late flooding program.  The mosquito district shall continue its
policy in effect on January 1, 1999, of only charging one-half of the
abatement costs it incurs during the late flooding program in the
Suisun Marsh.  The conservation district shall pay 75 percent of
those costs and the owner or owners of the affected property shall
pay the remaining 25 percent of those costs to the conservation
district within 30 days after receipt of an invoice for those costs
from the conservation district.  If the owner or owners do not pay
the full 25 percent copayment amount within that 30-day period, the
owner or owners shall pay the mosquito district the full 100 percent
of the costs incurred by the mosquito district for mosquito abatement
activities on the affected property, and the conservation district
shall be relieved of the obligation to pay any portion of the cost of
those activities on that property.
   (C) Any funds not expended by December 31 of each year pursuant to
subparagraphs (A) and (B) may be used by the conservation district
for the purposes specified in paragraph (2).
   (2) Not less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) of the amount
allocated each year shall be used for the purpose of reimbursing the
conservation district for expenses it incurs implementing the
program.
   (c) The department may not allocate any funds from the General
Fund for purposes of the program after December 31, 2004.
   (d) All payments made to the conservation district shall be in
arrears.  The conservation district shall submit invoices to the
Department of Fish and Game for reimbursement of its program related
costs quarterly.  Each invoice shall be accompanied by an itemized
accounting of its costs, and shall include any invoices the
conservation district has received from the mosquito district.
   (e) As used in this section, the terms "conservation district,"
"early flooding programs," "late flooding program," "mosquito
district," and "program" have the same meaning as defined by Section
2921 of the Fish and Game Code.
  SEC. 4.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
